Head southwest from Traverse City on US-31 for about 14 miles and you reach Interlochen, a small community in Green Lake Township in Grand Traverse County, on the strip of land between Green Lake and Duck Lake.
Most of our local guides are about the Great Lakes shoreline. Interlochen is inland, surrounded by pines and lakes, and best known for the arts center that has been here since 1928. It's an unincorporated community, and the census counted 694 people in the Interlochen area in 2020.
I'm Taylor Brown. My mom and business partner, Janel, and I sell homes all over Northern Michigan, and Interlochen comes up with buyers who want an inland lake and the woods within an easy drive of Traverse City.
An arts campus in the trees. Interlochen Center for the Arts started in 1928 as the National High School Orchestra Camp, founded by Joseph Maddy. Its campus covers about 1,200 wooded acres next to the state park. In summer it runs Arts Camp for students in grades 3 through 12, and the rest of the year it runs Interlochen Arts Academy, a boarding school that combines academics with arts training. Kresge Auditorium, an open-air amphitheater on campus that opened in 1948, hosts the big summer shows. The 2026 lineup included Emmylou Harris with Graham Nash, Jason Isbell and Joe Bonamassa. The campus is also home to Interlochen Public Radio, the NPR station for much of Northern Michigan, on the air since 1963.
Green Lake and Duck Lake. Town and the state park fill the land between them.
Green Lake: About 2,000 acres and up to 102 feet deep. The arts campus sits along its shore.
Duck Lake: On the other side of town. Its outflow is one of the main sources feeding Green Lake.
Interlochen State Park. Between the lakes is Interlochen State Park, which the state calls Michigan's first state park. The area was logged heavily from the 1870s on, and the state bought this stand of pine in 1917 for $60,000; it became a state park in 1919. Large old-growth red and white pines still stand there. The modern campground has 392 sites along Duck Lake, there's a rustic campground on Green Lake, and the day-use area has a beach house and a boat launch on Duck Lake, with another launch on Green Lake.
What buyers should know.
Township rules: Interlochen is unincorporated, so Green Lake Township sets the local rules.
Short-term rentals: Green Lake Township licenses short-term rentals every year, with no cap, at $525 a year. Occupancy is the lower of two guests per conforming bedroom plus two children 15 and under, or what your well and septic approval allows. On older lake cottages the septic number is usually the one that limits you, so get the evaluation before you plan on a guest count. A caretaker has to be reachable within 30 minutes, and the license ends when the house sells. Our STR Checker is a good place to start.
Property taxes: Interlochen itself is in the Traverse City Area Public Schools district, where a primary residence in Green Lake Township paid about 25.8 mills on the 2025 rates. Parts of the township fall in the Buckley district (about 27.0) or the Kingsley district (about 22.7), so check the school code on the tax record. Our payment calculator shows what that means for a monthly payment.
The drive: Downtown Traverse City is roughly 20 minutes away.
Why our experience matters here. Green Lake Township is split among three school districts, and on an older lake cottage the septic permit can decide how many guests you're allowed. We'll check the school code on the tax record and get the septic picture early, before you settle on a price.
Come see it. Interlochen is close enough to Traverse City that a visit fits into an afternoon. Reach out and we'll walk the old pines at the state park, drive the roads around Green and Duck Lake, and talk honestly about whether it fits what you're after.
Thinking about being on the water around here? Here are the current Interlochen lake homes for sale, checked against the MLS every day.
Janel & Taylor Brown
The Brown Team | Real Estate One
(231) 360-1510
